In Celestial Harmony
by Priestess Skye
Summary: A night with the stars. KagSess. Oneshot vignette
1. In Celestial Harmony

The grass was cool beneath her as she lay on her back looking up at the night sky. She knew she should be in her time, or with Inuyasha at the moment, but she wanted some time to herself to think. It was so rare these days that she would get any peace and quiet. It was 'Kagome' this or 'wench' that. Her family wouldn't leave her alone at home, and her friends wouldn't leave her alone here. So what could she do but sneak away for a time?

The night sky in Feudal Japan was one she treasured above all things. She was lucky if she could see one star at home due to all the flashing lights from the street. Here, she couldn't keep count of the ones visible to the naked eye. What was the number she had read again? 40,000 stars could be seen unaided by a person if there was no light pollution. And each star above her told a different story.

"Miko."

She jumped slightly, startled at the interruption. "Sesshoumaru," she acknowledged, but she didn't get up. She waited for him to take a seat next to her on grass. "I was just thinking about the stars," she admitted.

"Hn."

She relaxed as she saw him slip off his armor, a sign of peace between the two. She would drop her bow a foot away from her, he removed his armor. She knew she wasn't any safer from him, but it was a gesture of goodwill. He was the other reason she liked to escape from Inuyasha once in a while. While he would never come near the group, he had no qualms about sitting and talking to her. She had learned he was fascinated about the knowledge learned in the future, and was a quick study. She didn't mind sharing information and stories, as long as it wasn't something that would essentially change the future.

Last night they debated the pros and cons of autocracy vs. democracy. It looked like tonight they would talk about the night sky.

"Do you have names for the stars in this time?"

"No. The stars aren't needed for anything other than a few spells. They don't need names for that."

She smiled. "We name everything, I guess it's part of our quest for knowledge." She pointed up. "Take for instance that bright, red star. By giving it a name we are able to track it. We watch it rise, we watch it set and it tells us what time of the year it is. That is a summer star, so when it's out, we know summer is either on its way, or here, or ending depending on where it is in the sky. When it's not in the sky, we know it's winter."

"We could do that without naming it."

"So we could. But then how do you know you won't count it twice? One year you could think it's one star, the next year another. By labeling it, and giving it a name, we have identified it."

"And what is the name of said star?"

"Arcturus, part of the Bootes Constellation."

"Constellation?"

"Yeah," She raised her hand once again and traced a shape into the sky. "We have constellations, pictures that appear if you connect the dots, so to speak." She pointed to another part of the sky. "You see those stars over there, that look like a giant ladle?"

He nodded as he watched her trace the shape. "That's known as the Big Dipper, part of the Ursa Major Constellation, The Great Bear."

"And what is the point of constellations?"

"It helps us to identify stars or groups of stars. You see a bright star in the Bootes constellation, you know it's Arcturus. However, if you see a bright star in a group that doesn't look like Bootes, then it's not Arcturus, it's something else."

"And your people waste time on this?" he snorted.

"I wouldn't call it wasting time, I'd call it part of the process of understanding the universe, and yes, we spend time on this."

She took a deep breath. "Now, follow the handle of The Big Dipper, and we end up at Arcturus." She looked at him to see him nodding, following and understanding. "Keep following the same path, and we come to another bright star."

"And what star is this?"

"Spica, part of the Virgo constellation. 'Arc onto Arcturus, then speed onto Spica'. This is why we name stars, and we have constellations. It helps us move around the sky."

He was genuinely interested in the topic, she noted. She could tell by the focused look on his face.

"And that bright light in the Southern Sky is Jupiter, a planet."

"Planet?"

"Yes, another large body like earth, but instead of rock and water, it's made entirely of gas that is highly poisonous to any living thing."

"Jupiter gas," he deduced, hoping he was coming to the right conclusion.

She giggled, a sound he had come to enjoy. "No, it's named Jupiter after the king of the Roman Gods, Jupiter. It's the king of the planets, the largest near us. You can fit Earth into Jupiter several times, it's that big."

"And Arcturus, what is it named after?"

"Arcturus is roman for 'bear guard' as it lies next to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great Bear and the Little Bear. He watches over them."

"And Spica?"

She nibbled on her lower lip for a moment, something he found utterly fascinating. "You know," she finally replied. "I'm not sure. I'll have to look it up next time I go home."

"Hn."

They lay in silence for several minutes, watching the stars twinkle in the sky. "Make a wish," he heard her whisper suddenly, breaking the silence, and he watched her close her eyes tight.

"Why would I need to make a wish?"

"Because you always wish on a shooting star. It's good luck."

"And what did you wish for?"

She giggled again. "I can't tell you, then it won't come true. Now, make a wish, and make it a good one."

He closed his eyes to humour her, but secretly hoped that his wish would one day come true. He opened his eyes, startled, when he felt her hand move to cover his, and hold it.

"We'll come back in a few months and do this again," she said. "I'll show my favourite star cluster, the Pleiades, or better known as the seven sisters. I'll even see if I can find a story to go with it."

He eyed her briefly, before looking back up at the sky.

His last thought before succumbing to the peace of the night was his wish may come true after all.

End

A little something that struck me as I was watching my aunt's cleaning lady clean the house today. I'm a total astronomy buff and had been wanting to use it somehow in a story for some time. It's unbeta'd as I don't have a beta, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and co. do not belong to me, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.


	2. The Pleiades

He stood looking through the eyepiece of the contraption she called a telescope, being careful not to twist the knob too hard as he tried to make the picture clearer. Pleiades, she had called them, the seven sisters.

Three months ago she had spoken briefly about them during one of their encounters. Tonight she was following through with her promise to teach him about them.

Over the course of the past year he had learned to treasure their moments together, and he yearned to sit with her more often. Tonight she appeared tired, worn out and physically exhausted as she returned from her latest hunt. He was surprised to see her waiting for him, let alone waiting for him with such a machine. It would not have been easy to transport through the well.

But she stood there greeting him, her smile reaching her weary eyes as she set the device up. Pleiades was in the northwestern sky according to her, and tonight was the perfect night to watch them as it was quiet.

And so she sat, telling him the story as he tracked the cluster with the telescope, moving it as she had taught him to do. What an amazing machine to allow him to see the universe so well from such a distance.

There were many stories about them, she had said. The most prominent a Greek story. He had remembered his lessons on the shape of the world, and other lands that stretch far beyond Japan. Greece was located in an area called Europe, far, far from where he was currently situated.

"Okay, so there's nine of them," she recited. "The seven sisters and their two parents." He nodded as he eyed the nine bright stars sitting in a bed of thousands of fainter ones.

"There's Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, and Merope. One of the parent stars is Atlas, the father, and the mother is Pleione," she chewed her lower lip slightly, he noted as he saw it out of the corner of his eye. He didn't know which he was more fascinated with, the stars above, or her nervous little habit. "Atlas was a titan, a giant creature of superior strength who was told by the gods to hold up the Earth. Pleione is from the ocean."

"Anyway, all seven of the sisters were once being chased by the warrior hunter Orion. He's the constellation to the east of them." She pointed to the three stars that formed his belt and he watched intently as she traced his shape in the sky.

"So Zeus, the head god, much like Jupiter," she clarified, "had decided to turn them into doves. Afterward Zeus had changed his mind and changed them into stars. One story says they were saddened by the death of their father, Atlas, and the death of their siblings, the Hyades, another star cluster by the way, that Zeus had decided to immortalize them instead by making them into stars. Orion still chases them though. Despite being made stars, he continues to chase them. Only this time he'll never catch them."

He stepped aside as she reached for the telescope, intent on looking at the stars herself. "We don't call them the Pleiades here in Japan though. It's the name I prefer, but at home we call them the Subaru." She giggled. "We even have a car named after them that has six of the seven stars in its logo."

He thought back quickly to his lesson on cars. The horseless wagon was how she described it. It transported people from destination to destination without having a horse to pull it. "Why only six?"

He watched as she abandoned the telescope and sat on the blanket she had laid on the grass. He did the same, sitting close enough to her to allow his shoulder to brush hers. It was a contact he had learned to enjoy and relished each time they met.

"I don't know. The Greek have a story about the seventh sister, Merope. Maybe it has something to do with that."

He watched her shiver in the night, and noted how cool it had become after sunset. Stupid girl, he thought affectionately. It was winter and she hadn't thought to bring an extra cloak for warmth. Normally they would have had a fire going, but she said the light from the fire would interfere with the light from the stars. He removed his mokomoko-sama and gently placed it around her shoulders, and noted with satisfaction that she snuggled into it immediately. It felt right somehow.

"Thanks," she whispered. "Anyway, Merope is said to be the faintest star in the cluster as punishment. She was shamed for having an affair with a mortal unlike the rest of her sisters."

He chuckled, a sound she was getting more and more used to, and a sound she treasured more and more as he rarely chuckled freely, and if he did, it was usually reserved just for her. "There is not much difference between the Greeks and here," he conceded.

She could feel her ire rise at the thought of the hatred between man and youkai. "You know, you don't help much with this either. 'Weak humans', and 'human stench', and whatnot." She started to rise from her spot on the blanket to pace. "We are more than our bodies. It's not our fault we were born human, just like it's not your fault you were born youkai. I don't know why everybody has to hate each other. I admire Merope for following her heart instead of following her sisters' actions."

He placed a hand gently, but firmly on her shoulder, keeping her in place. "Peace," he said, as he lay on his back to look at the sky, something they both did quite often these days since their first conversation about the stars. "I know not all humans are bad," he pulled her down with him. "For instance, if I treated all humans the same, we would not be lying here together."

She sighed and snuggled into his warmth. It amazed her how much she trusted him to not hurt her, to protect her. And it amazed her even more that he would allow such contact between them. Who knew that the Great Lord Sesshoumaru was a snuggler.

Maybe it was a by-product of their growing relationship, but she really didn't care, he was there with her tonight and that was what mattered.

"Why do demons hate humans so much?" she asked. "I don't understand it."

"Because of the hatred humans have of us demons," he answered. "Jealousy, I figure.  
We're stronger, our life span is longer, we're given certain powers and abilities that weren't granted to humans. We're different. Humans work hard and strive to be better, but never succeed. They get angry over this and decide it's better to curse us instead, to try and wipe us from existence so they are the most powerful beings on Earth. It's a power struggle. They hate us because we're different, we hate them because they're weak for it."

"I guess much like Merope and her human mate. They were different and it upset both the gods and humans."

"Yes. Not many humans see their failings as gifts. I may have a longer lifespan than you, but we simply just exist. You cherish your years, I live each day and simply move onto the next without giving it another thought, until time passes and I can't recall where it has passed to, or what I have done to leave my mark on it."

He could feel her head move as she shook it against his shoulder. "That's such a shame," she whispered. "You should always live each moment like it's your last. Especially during this time where everybody is constantly at war with each other."

"Hn."

They lay together in silence for several minutes, looking up at the night sky. "Why is the Pleiades your favourite?" he asked, breaking the silence. "Is it because of the story?"

"No, the story was something I learned afterward. I just thought they were pretty, a group of stars sitting so brightly in a bed of fainter stars, surrounded by a blue dust. There are thousands of star clusters in the sky, but nothing as pretty as these." She frowned. "Even with time though, scientists are predicting they'll move and spread apart from each other, and one day, Pleiades will be no more."

"But despite that," he said thoughtfully. "They've still made a mark on your life. You've noticed them, and appreciated them for their simple existence."

"Yes," she agreed, closing her eyes before letting exhaustion take over. "They've left a mark on me. Just as you have too." 

AN

Okay, so initially this was meant to be a one shot vignette, then people asked for more. Now, typically I don't follow the requests to continue vignettes simply because they're meant to end where they are. However, the beauty about this is I could continue, but keep them as separate vignettes. There's no guarantee that I'll continue on beyond this vignette, it'll depend on whether or not the mood strikes me. I probably made a mistake continuing with this vignette instead of leaving well enough alone, but I couldn't stop writing after going out last night.

But last night was a gorgeous, clear night and I took my telescope outside and I was inspired

No, Pleiades wasn't out, too bad. That's a winter constellation and you can find it to the west of Orion. But I had a gorgeous clear sky out, which is rare for Toronto, Ontario as there's no city in Canada that has such terrible light pollution. I was actually able to see the constellations Cassiopeia, Ursa Major (which is probably the easiest constellation ever), Libra, Ophiusius and Lyra. Also got a chance to see Jupiter and three of its four moons (unfortunately, one moon was behind the planet, and the red spot was not facing earth). Even with a quarter crescent moon I was still able to see some Earthshine, which isn't typical unless you see just the beginning of the crescent, and it felt so good that when I came in around midnight, I just started typing until this was finished. Then combine this with the fact that before I went outside I had watched the third Inuyasha movie, which is big-time Sesshoumaru action. I love it! It was like the words just flowed out of my fingertips.

I've included below a link to the Pleiades star cluster on Wikipedia where it has a picture of them so you could all see why they're my favourite celestial objects right now.

http://en. just want to give a shout out and thank you to those who responded to the first story.

On ASS: Tana-san, hasu86 (absolutely loving your stories. Waiting on an update for Summer Maid, but I can't tell you how many times I've read your others, especially Tohoku Vacation). Rowdysgirl, ElegantPaws (to those who haven't read ElegantPaws' 'This Sesshoumaru Needs Not a Mate', it's definitely a must read, go read it now!) and Lexy22. Person of a Strange Origin, Semi-Precious, EternalLove495, MickeytheMouse, sesshomaru121, GYY, Kamakura Yumi (Yes, Plough is the big dipper. It's an old English name for it. The Big Dipper goes by three names, the Big Dipper, Plough, and Ursa Major as it's a part of that constellation).

And finally, a Happy Harry Potter Day to one and all. I've spent the better part of the day laying on a chaise on my patio reading in the sun, and I'm about to curl up on the couch and continue it as well.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.


	3. Rainbows

They huddled together under a small ledge against a rather large rock and watched the rain pour down. She refused to drown herself in it while he could care less about it. He was only taking cover with her because she refused to come and talk out in the open. She had turned away from her group just after the dinner hour for some well-needed peace and quiet. And to be honest, Inuyasha and his obsession with the hunt for Naraku was starting to piss her off.

Yes, the dark hanyou needed to be found, and yes, he needed to be destroyed. But she didn't need to hear about it every waking moment of the day. And what was worse the lack of understanding she was receiving from Sango and Miroku. More and more often they were getting sucked into the ramblings of their Inu-hanyou friend. There was only so much a peace-loving girl could take.

Which is how she ended up here hiding from the rain with her secret companion, and at the moment, most trusted confidant. It was during her walk that she stumbled upon him sitting on the above ledge, seemingly waiting for her, just before the skies opened up. He had scoffed at her when she explained her reason for wanting to stay out of the pouring rain, once again calling humans weak.

"It's not my fault I get sick when I'm out in the rain too long," she defended. "The cold gets to me thereby affecting my immune system, which becomes too busy trying to keep the chill out and lets the bacteria and viruses in." He nearly chuckled at the playful pout forming on her lips.

He couldn't find fault with the rain though, as it meant she was going to be holed up for a little while with him. "The hanyou grating on your nerves again?"

She sighed, "It's just getting so irksome," she complained. "Naraku this, jewel shards that, 'wench, why can't you detect shards nearby, what's wrong with your senses'. Half the time I just want to drop what I'm doing and go home for an indeterminate amount of time."

"But he wouldn't allow that."

"No, and he means well. Kikyou is out of the picture, and as hurt as he is about that, he's also okay with it. And he's fiercely protective, which is nice, but every now and again I just need a reminder as to what it's like to be normal. I've screwed up my schooling at home and if I ever need to go back and stay there, it'll take years for me to catch up to where I'm supposed to be."

"His stubbornness and selfishness matters not," he brushed it off. "You get time each night now to do what you wish uninterrupted."

She leaned against him for warmth and smiled when he didn't pull away. "That's true. It's funny, you know. I used to mope over the idea of an evening away from Inuyasha. Now I relish it."

"You have grown up," he noted. "He hasn't. He still acts like the young, brash pup he was before he was pinned to the tree. You, however, realize you can't act like a child forever."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Who says I can't act like a child. Acting like a child is what keeps us young."

"Acting like a child makes you look like an idiot," he countered.

Kagome shook her head as she noted the rain was easing up. "Seriously, all work and no play makes Kagome a very dull girl. It's all fine and dandy to play the grown up when we need to, but even I feel the need once in a while to go back to being a child. It rejuvenates me."

She could feel him looking down at her, without having to lift her head to look at him. "How so?" he asked.

She scrunched her nose. "I don't know, just by acting carefree I guess. When was the last time you took some time for yourself, forgot about your dignity and pride and just let go?"

He snorted. "You can't just forget about dignity and pride."

"Sure you can." He felt dazzled by the smile she flashed at him as she stood up and reached for his hand. "Come on, it's raining out, there's nobody around, let's be kids for a change."

He let her lead him out in the rain, because really, who was she to lead him around when he didn't want to be led? There's no way her puny arms could have pulled him anywhere if that was the case, and he watched in wonder as she lifted her head to the sky and stuck her tongue out, before holding her arms out and spinning. Despite the absurdity of the scene, it was one of the most breathtaking things he'd ever seen. He was content to remain silent, if it weren't for his curiousity as to what she was doing. And so he asked.

"I'm catching raindrops," she merely answered. "Hold your head back, open your mouth and spin."

She continued to spin lightly in her spot, and caught up in the moment, he couldn't help but hold his head up to the sky. The girl was something else entirely, was the only thing he could think of.

"You're not spinning," he glanced back down at her to see her glaring at him with her hands on his hips.

"I don't spin."

"But it's all a part of it. Like you're lost in, you have nowhere to go, nowhere to but here just going around and around in this one spot."

"I don't spin," he said with finality.

"Well fine, it's your loss then." She began to spin again, trying to catch the rain, and he couldn't help but see the child that she probably once was, carefree, much like Rin.

"Oh look," she stopped and pointed to the sky.

"It's a rainbow," he said blandly, not knowing why she would be fascinated.

"Yeah, there's something magical about seeing them, the sunlight, the clouds, the rain, and the colours. Don't you see it?"

"It's a rainbow."

She sighed, slightly in frustration. "Rainbows symbolize hope, it represents the sun coming out after the storm,"

"You act as if you've never seen a rainbow." He grabbed her hand in his in an act of spontaneity. It felt right, whole, solid.

"Very rarely. I'm sure we get them at home, but the pollution interferes with the sunlight and they're not very common."

"What does sunlight have to do with rainbows?"

"It's the light of the sun mixing with the moisture in the air. The moisture breaks the light down into its most basic form, a myriad of colours. It's like the light refracting through a crystal. It goes in white, comes out like a rainbow."

"Hn."

"But never mind that, it takes the romanticism and the mysticism out of the rainbow, I don't like looking at it like that." She threw a sidelong glance at him. "Did you know there's a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow."

"This Sesshoumaru has no need of gold," he replied. But still, he looked to see where the rainbow ended. 

"Part of the idea of hope. A child always hopes they'll find the end of a rainbow so they can steal the leprechaun's gold."

He had no idea as to who or what this leprechaun was, but if he had to chase a rainbow to find it, he had no interest in it.

"Do you have stories for everything?" he asked.

"Pretty much. Humans used to base our entire existence on stories, folklore. Most of it is believed to be untrue. But some still believe them. We need our beliefs to move on with our lives."

And he shifted them slightly so she was tucked against his shoulder, both looking up at the rainbow.

"And hope," he said.

She smiled at him, her brown eyes sparkling before looking up at the sky above them again. "Yes, we need, and have hope too."

AN

Okay, so I really should be working on Mirrored Pasts right now, but after a little rain a few nights ago, we had a double rainbow. It's rare enough to see one rainbow around here, but to see two together in one night, it was absolutely phenomenal. And so, I just started writing.

So some of you might be thinking 'And what do rainbows have to do with the night sky and stars?' Well it doesn't have anything to do with the night, but it is a by-product of a celestial object. The sun is indeed considered a celestial object and there are many astronomers who observe the sun's actions on Earth. So a rainbow comes from the light that comes from the sun, a celestial object. I know, weak tie, but it works for me. I'll go back to stars or night sky objects another day, maybe, if I'm so inspired. Chances are good I might be, as there's a meteor shower coming up in August. I'm hoping for clear skies so I can watch that.

Meanwhile, I promise I'll continue working on Mirrored Pasts. It's coming along, just not as quickly as I'd like it.

Thanks for all of your wonderful words and support as well. It means the world to me.

Special thanks to LadySafire, asha mai, ingi-doo on ElegantPaws and orchid on ASS and angelickagome and Kamakura Yumi on Inuyasha and company do not belong to me, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.


	4. By The Light of the Moon

No matter how much she loved her friends in the feudal era, it was always wonderful to come home. She missed it, the comfort of her bed, indoor plumbing, the joy of hanging out with her friends, despite the fact that she didn't fit in. Talking about boys and following the latest gossip wasn't really her thing anymore, but occasionally she would indulge in it, take advantage of her short time of just being normal.

No demons to fight, no hanyou to sit, no shards to worry about. Here, her biggest worry was studying for a test, at least when she was in school, or finding a way to avoid Hojo once again. She really should just speak with him as he was wasting both his time and hers in his relentless pursuit. But she just didn't have the heart. She didn't have the heart to crush his, and she didn't have the heart to disappoint her friends who were so eagerly looking forward to playing matchmaker every time she was in town.

But she knew every time she left the feudal era, she was coming home. One hug from her mama, and whatever was wrong in her world was suddenly right.

Which made this visit all the more special as Inuyasha had pissed her off for the final time. Gone was the hanyou that had endeared himself to her, instead stood a hanyou obsessed with one thing, and one thing only. And his attitude toward everybody was well past beginning to stink. It was downright foul. She could handle the cutting remarks toward her, and she knew Sango and Miroku could handle the cutting remarks toward them, but when he grabbed a three year old village boy who had accidentally stepped in front of him by the neck and held him high in anger, well, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The jewel was beginning to corrupt all who wanted it. She had no idea as to what Inuyasha wanted to wish for, but whatever it was, it was causing his heart to darken and she was beginning to become frightened of what he might become because of it.

But while at home all of these thoughts were put behind her.

Unfortunately, her visits home were not nearly long enough and she once again found herself climbing out of the well, and the further up she climbed, the more she could feel the tension and stress building up within her again.

"Miko."

She heard his voice before she saw him. She peaked over the lip of the well to see him standing there, looking quite ethereal in the light of the full moon.

"Hey," she smiled, the first true smile she's had for a while in this era. "Here, grab my bag, help me out." It took him no effort at all to lift both her and the bag over the rim of the well. "So, what's up?"

"You were gone for a while," he commented as he sat in front of the well.

"Yeah, I know," she replied half-heartedly. "I had things to do."

"You were running away," he countered.

"Yeah I was," she admitted. "I'm getting tired of it all. The hunt, the fighting, with both Naraku and Inuyasha. Everyday I'm more and more tempted to just go home and forget about the well, forget about coming back."

He took her hand in his and squeezed lightly, a gesture she found very reassuring. "Haven't you ever felt like running away?" she asked him.

He sat silently for several minutes before answering. "Once, when I was younger. My father had begun to train me and I was unused to spending several hours not doing what I wanted. I had wanted to leave and forget about my responsibility to the lands."

She smiled at him. "That's so not like you," she chuckled.

He smiled back, slightly. "Even now when I tire of one place, and I tire of whatever it is I'm doing, I just pick up and leave and find something else. Why waste the energy if it's not something I want to do."

"But your lands, you don't forget about them, and you don't shirk your responsibilities to them."

"No," he confirmed.

She lay her head against his shoulder, and snuggled closer to help keep herself warm.

"Where would you run it if you had the chance to truly run away?" he asked.

She sighed, before looking up at the sky. "I've always wanted to go to the moon. If I could run anywhere, it would be to the moon."

"Foolishness," Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Nobody can go to the moon."

"Not true," she countered. "Humans have already been to the moon several times in my era. The Apollo missions. They take a great space ship up into the sky and bam, in a few days you end up at the moon."

"Remarkable. Why the moon?"

"Oh I don't know. It's barren, desolate, quiet, the perfect place to escape reality with nothing and nobody to interfere."

"You could get that in many places here," he pointed out.

"True. But maybe it's what it symbolizes as well. It's a sign of personal growth."

"How so?"

She looked up at the sky wistfully. "The ancients used to believe the moon guided almost all we did down here. It governed the rainfall, and the ocean tides, and is associated with the idea of fertility."

"The chance of starting something new," he replied.

She smiled, thrilled that he understood. "Precisely. Nevermind sex and having kids, although I'm sure that's great and all, but the rain and tides will wash everything away and fertility is the idea of starting something new, of having the ability to start something new, something completely separate from everything else."

"And to get all this you would go to the moon," he mused with a small smile on his face.

"If I could," she sighed again and reached over for his mokomoko-sama, stroking it lightly with her fingers. "If I could get there, I would and I'd forget everything here and just start fresh. A while new life."

"Without Inuyasha."

"Without Inuyasha," she confirmed.

"And your friends?" 

"As far as friends go, and they go pretty far, they're fantastic, but I can't help but feel something's missing when I'm with them," Kagome confessed. She knew what it was, the fact that they had each other and she had nobody. More and more often she was beginning to feel like a third wheel.

"You're not alone," his baritone voice broke the silence. "No matter what you think, you're not alone. You don't need them on this moon of yours, but even if you go by yourself, you wouldn't be alone."

She beamed at him. "I know."

"I would go to the moon with you." It was his turn to confess.

"You would?" she nearly jumped to her feet, startled.

"Yes. You could pretend right now you're on your moon. I'll be here with you. Spend the night, get some rest and know that nothing will interfere with your dreams."

"You won't leave me?" she whispered, her eyes suddenly feeling heavy.

"No. I won't leave you." He unfurled his mokomoko-sama, and covered her bare legs with the piece of fluff in an effort to keep the cold away. He could hear her snoring lightly, and instead of finding the sound repulsive, he found it endearing.

"You'll never be alone," he said into the night as his eyes fell upon the moon once more.

END

AN

Needed something to brighten an otherwise bad day. We all get those once in a while. Anyway, the moon is another one of my favourite celestial objects. The first time I looked at it through my telescope it took my breath away. But there's so many phases and each phase will reveal something different. And then don't forget the terrain. You can look at the moon however many times you want and it'll never look the same way twice. There's so much on there between the craters, mountains and basins, you'll find something you've never seen before every time you look up.

But nevermind the musings of an amateur (very amateur) astronomer. Look at astrology and their symbols of the moon, or religion, and in each religion you'll probably find several different references to the moon. You can see it holds just that much more value to humanity.

I'm a little bummed at the moment. For those interested the Perseid meteor shower is this weekend and as with every other major celestial event this year (the lunar eclipse, the transit of Mercury), the weather forecast is saying the evenings and nights will be cloudy. I'm crossing my fingers that the weatherman is wrong. But if you have clear skies Sunday night, early Monday morning before sunrise, take a moment to look up in the sky and see if you see any meteors. They're spectacular.

For those of you who are reading Mirrored Pasts, you can look for an update this coming Sunday. I have it written, but I'm letting it sit for a few days before any editing so I'm not so familiar with it.

A big thank you to everybody who reviewed

ASS: Wiccan (You're right where the vignettes are meant to stand alone, but you're also right about the fact they're all interconnected. I, too, can't wait to see where this series goes and how the characters will develop and grow as we go along). Jean, trihn, Libertine (I love going up North as I get the unimpeded view of the stars. I could sit for hours, without any optical aid such as a telescope or binoculars, and just stare at the sky. In Toronto, we're lucky if we see two dozen stars in the sky at night. We can see all the really bright stars, but that's about it), and ElegantPaws. Ingi-doo, GYY, LadySafire, (I always find it funny how kids always want to grow up, and adults want to take a moment once in a while and be young again. I was forced by circumstance to grow up way too young, so now I try to take a bit of time every now and again to be young. It's a good compromise, the wisdom of my years and experience and the joys of being young again. I quite like standing in the rain, although with the pollution in the air, I'm quite reluctant to stick my tongue out to catch any) Bert8813, rachelandthecupcakecrusades and LuciferSpades.


	5. The Tears of St Lawrence

Water crashing against the rocks in a nearby waterfall and spring mixed gently with the sounds of the night. The occasional lark would sing, crickets would chirp, and the howl of a wolf in the distance only enhanced the song of the night. While the day was considered hot and muggy, after dark, it was a camper's paradise as a cool breeze blew gently through the fields. It was warm enough to stay out without having to add layers to retain heat, yet cool enough that she wasn't uncomfortably sweaty.

She stretched out on her blanket, a new pink, fuzzy bread spread she had bought on her last trip home just for nights like this, and stared up at the sky, lost in her thoughts. Where was she to go now that it was all over? Naraku was gone, defeated after an intense battle where she would have lost her life if it weren't for her knight in shining armor, or, perhaps better described as her white knight. Just when she had thought it was all over, as she saw her friends lay on the ground bleeding to their own deaths, Miroku pale as he fought the poison in his system, and Inuyasha fighting blindly as he was losing strength, in came Sesshoumaru, looking as pristine as ever, with the coldest eyes ever. It gave her the strength to go on and with one arrow straight and true, she missed the dark hanyou, but struck the jewel, purifying it until nothing was left of it but a memory.

For all of a minute she had thought they were going to have to start from scratch again, collecting shards until the jewel was whole again, as she never forgot how the jewel shattered the first time. Maybe it was her intent though, as this time around she was seeking to destroy it, not retrieve it, which caused it to purify rather than shatter. Regardless, without the jewel Naraku was nothing more than a lowly demon easily killed.

Just last month she lay on the battlefield, struggling to catch her breath as she nursed her friends back to health, and mourned the loss of her beloved kit. Everyday it hurt more and more to think of him, and know she couldn't save him know matter how hard she tried. She had begged Sesshoumaru to use tenseiga on him, sat before him on her hands and knees and pleaded for her kit's life, but the spirit was already passed, she was informed. There was nothing he could do.

In one week, her life as she knew it had changed irrevocably. Inuyasha had run off. Where, she didn't know, and she didn't care. In the past year he had estranged himself from her to the point where she had trouble calling him a friend. Sango and Miroku healed nicely, and were off to marry in the exterminator's village. She was thrilled for them, but she couldn't follow them despite their invitation. It wasn't her place, it just didn't feel right.

Home was her first thought. Her mother and her welcoming arms would ease the hurt greatly, and suddenly she couldn't make it to the well fast enough. She didn't take the time to say good-bye to her friends, it would only be one more hurt she couldn't bear, and she ran. She ran blindly knowing that she didn't need to see to know where home was and how to get there.

And if she wasn't hurt enough as it was, the well rejected her, the power laying dormant now that the jewel was gone.

Here she was, an untrained miko, with no family, and no home.

Solitude had become her solace. As hectic as the days were, learning what she needed to know from Kaede, the nights gave her time to reflect on everything that took her to this point in her life, and everything that could take her beyond this point. For one month she hadn't seen him, and she missed him. She missed their chats, the way he would hold her hand in comfort, or understanding, or just as a way of saying he's there whether she needs him or not. He let her know that he was somebody she could count on whenever she needed to.

She needed to count on him now, but he had stayed away. It left her wondering if he moved on as well now that Naraku was gone.

It was perhaps two nights ago when she was sitting under the Goshinboku that she noticed lights moving across the northeastern sky. Too uniform to be sporadic, and given the time of year and weather, she knew them to be the perseid meteor shower. For the first time in a month and a half, she pulled out her blanket, the one she had bought for nights like tonight, and sat watching the stars.

They were a comfort to her, something that doesn't change between her time and here.

And so she lay there again, tonight, feeling lost and alone, taking comfort in the night sky, and missing him desperately.

"Twenty-two," she murmured under breath as she saw another meteor flash by.

She was jarred out of her thoughts by a deep baritone voice. "What are you counting?"

She moved her eyes from the sky and saw him in the distance, looking regal as ever, and just as cold. "The meteors. We're in the middle of a meteor shower." She sat up and cocked her head to the side. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer, but instead dropped his armor at the edge of the clearing and moved to sit next to her. "What is a meteor shower?"

Slightly flustered at his close proximity, she pointed up to the sky. "Meteors are remnants of old comets, blocks of ice and gas that fly through the sky. So every now and again, we'll see the small pieces flash through the sky. Sometimes we see only one, sometimes we see many. When there's a lot, it's called a meteor shower."

She lay back down on her blanket looking up, occasionally pointing when she'd see one, hoping he'd catch a glimpse of it too. "It doesn't look much different than your shooting star," he commented as he lay back next to her.

"It's not. When you see a single one, then it's commonly known as a shooting star. They're quite common, but you have to look up at just the right time."

"Are there any legends or stories for meteors?"

She chuckled slightly. Some things never changed, including his constant thirst for knowledge. While he would never openly admit, she knew he enjoyed the myths and legends behinds the stars. "They're known as the tears of St. Lawrence. It's probably a story you would enjoy as he was killed slowly, and painfully by the Romans."

"Slow and painful torture certainly sounds interesting."

"Yeah. He was roasted over an iron grill and fire almost two thousand years ago, er, 1,300 years ago," she amended, forgetting for a moment that she could no longer go back to her time. "It is read that instead of screaming in pain and agony, he turned to the crowds and said something along the lines of 'I am already roasted on one side and, if you want me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other.'"

"A very strong man indeed." He didn't laugh, but she could sense his amusement. "Have you made many wishes?" he asked after a time.

"Twenty-two," she whispered, and took a chance and moved closer to him. She smiled slightly when he didn't pull away, her first true smile in a month.

"And you still won't tell me what they are," he mused.

"No, then they won't come true."

The sounds of the crickets continued to fade in and out as they lay there, looking up at the sky in silence, both making a wish upon every meteor they saw. Occasionally she would point up, or he would trace something in the sky. She guessed he was continuing to figure out the constellations.

"Hey," she nudged him before resting her head on his shoulder. "Where were you?"

"About." He didn't give anything away.

She took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn't screw things up but needed to get everything out. "I needed you."

He turned his head to look at her. Her sad, brown eyes was eating him up on the inside, and he longed to see them sparkle again, much like the first night they sat out staring into the sky. "I wanted to give you time to grieve," he replied honestly. "I couldn't save your kit, so I did what I could, I gave you time instead."

"Everybody's gone. I didn't need time. I needed somebody to talk to."

He nodded in understanding, acknowledging he was wrong in his assumption. "I'll be around when you need me," he said as he wrapped his single arm around her, pulling her tighter to him, not so much for her, but for himself as well. He needed the contact.

"I missed you." He could feel the tears running down her face as she snuggled into him, and, although he didn't know how, he knew they weren't tears of sorrow. It touched him that she would care so deeply for him. As to when she became so important to him, he wasn't sure, but somehow, over the past few years, she had managed to ingrain herself so permanently into him, it nearly drove him insane to stay away.

"I missed you too," he whispered into her hair.

"Stay with me." She didn't ask, she demanded, but he knew he would never refuse her.

"As long as you like."

END

AN

Okay, so this is perseid version 2. On the morning of the 13th, at about 2am, I was out in my backyard looking up at the sky, and despite the terrible Toronto skies, I managed to catch a glimpse of a few meteors. I had the dog tied out back with me hunting the evil bugs that would think of flying near me. But it was beautiful and exciting and I came in and started writing as I was definitely feeling inspired, and never mind the fact that I had to be at work at 7am, or the fact that my workload for work has quadrupled this week. Anyway, I opened it back up after work that day to edit and all I could think of was 'this is terrible'. It really was, no flow, certainly didn't fit in with the feeling and tone of the rest of the series. So I scrapped it. I very rarely scrap my work. I'll edit and re-edit and edit some more and it may be completely different, or I'll read something and be tempted to scrap it but find something I like in it, so then I post before I get tempted to scrap it. But there was nothing I liked in this. So it sat for a long while, a word file titled perseid that was a blank document. I had given up on it today and said 'well I'll write something when something comes to me' and was about to delete the file when bam, my fingers did the talking and this is end result, something so completely different to what my initial thought would be.

This takes the series full circle and I could safely say that this is a good spot to end the series on. However, I'm not going to stop writing if I'm inspired just because this vignette is a good vignette to end on. So if it stays here, I'm happy, and if I get inspired to write more, I'll be happy then too.

I must send a thank you to ElegantPaws who inadvertently put a thought in my head that worked well in this vignette. I'm sure she didn't even realize what she was doing, and I certainly didn't until I had written it, and I had checked back and sure enough, it was a paraphrase on something she had said to me.

Thanks to everybody who reviewed.

On ASS: Phoenix Wolf (I hope you had more luck seeing them in Toronto than I did. I saw about five, was thrilled at each one, but they weren't easy due to the light pollution), Suicide, orchid, Alyana, reina, Wiccan (I hope you had a fabulous time watching them and had good skies in Michigan. I think next year I'm booking the weekend off and taking off to a conservation area 40 min away, set up my tent and just spend a night watching them), Jean, and ElegantPaws. rachelandthecupcakecrusades, denise134, IceGoddess92, elemental573, Amaya Mishugosha, and ingi-doo (I think we all need our own personal Sesshoumaru to run away to the moon with;))

Oh, and for anybody interested in meteor showers, there is another coming up on September 1, the Aurigids.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company don't belong to me. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi.


	6. Orion The Mighty Hunter

The night sky lay before them, a black canvas littered with millions of little lights, some white, some red, some yellow and some blue. Some lay haphazardly, not a part of anything, just a light on its own. Others formed pictures, a cross, a bear, a mighty hunter, a fierce dragon, a lyrical musical instrument, whatever your eyes could see. And others stuck together in group, thousands of little lights all gathered in several spots. Most nights the lights were stationary – they would move across the sky over time but still stuck together in their groups or pictures. But some lights traveled great distances in a matter of seconds, streaking across the sky leaving a trail behind it.

And each one of them had a story.

Their nightly ritual had begun years ago, when she needed to get away and he was feeling the need for companionship. Initially conversation was stilted, both leery of the other and everything they represented. But it didn't take long for a bond to form, first of friendship, then of trust, and eventually something more.

Every night they searched for a story, be it one that was already known, or one they've had to delve deep into their imaginations to create.

And it never ceased to amaze her the variety of stories they managed to concoct from tales of animals making great journeys, or the heroics of people who were then honoured by the kamis. For a demon seemingly without outward emotion, without humility or understanding for those around him, she learned he had a sense of humour that could rival some of the finest comedians she had ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Such as the constellation Scorpius, now dubbed 'The Little Crab that Could', or Coma Berenices, which she knew had to do with Berenice's hair, but she didn't know who Berenice was and why they would name a constellation after her hair. So it was now a combination of the kamis' will, and Rapunzel.

But the story itself never really mattered to them. It was the time they spent together admiring the sky that was important, a pastime they would never give up and god willing, would still be doing when they were both old and gray, or she should say, when she was old and gray. He would still be as pristine as ever.

"What are those three stars Chichiue?" A little hanyou toddler girl sat next to him, back straight as a board, black hair blowing in the wind and her amber eyes wide with delight. She pointed ahead, eager to hear what her father had to say. If there was ever a case of hero worship … Kagome mused as she watched them from afar, duties in a nearby village keeping her from joining them earlier.

"That is Orion, the hunter," he confirmed, obviously remembering her instruction from way back. She smiled as she recalled that night. After a particularly harsh day and tired from wandering, she laid to rest in a nearby pasture and planned to fall asleep while looking up at the sky. She didn't expect his visit, didn't plan for it. Yet he was there, asking questions, sharing stories. He didn't offer comfort, somehow sensing she didn't want it. But she was comforted nonetheless by his mere presence.

It was the night she discovered she loved him.

And it was the night they both acted on that love.

"What is he hunting?"

"Many things," he explained. "Hunters mostly hunt food – fish, rabbit, any animals they could eat."

"But what was _he_ hunting?" she asked again, following her father's fingers with her own tiny ones as he traced the shape in the sky.

"Two things. First was the bull."

"Taurus?" she asked looking at the V like shape in front of Orion.

"That's right, Taurus. But he also chased The Pleiades."

He pointed up to a cluster just past Taurus, seven bright stars sitting in a bed of fainter ones.

"Who are the Pleiades?"

Kagome hung back, wanting to hear Sesshoumaru tell the story she had first told him so long ago. Many nights, many stars, moons, meteors, comets and more, and the Pleiades were still her favourite.

"They are the seven sisters of the sky. Orion fell in love with each of them because of their beauty, and to help them escape, the gods turned them into stars in the sky. They became untouchable."

Although she couldn't see it, she knew her daughter's mouth was shaped like a perfect little 'o' as she thought about the chase. Three years old and she was already a hopeless romantic.

"How beautiful were they, Chichiue? What did they look like?"

And from a distance, she could feel her heart melt when she heard his answer.

"Like your mother. All seven of them looked like your mother," he replied softly.

Silence ensued as they both looked at the cluster above, a myriad of emotions crossing their faces – confusion, awe, adoration, love.

"I can only count six," she said as she pointed to them and reiterated her count. She nearly snorted as she heard his explanation.

"One of them made a grievous error and married beneath her station. She was immortal and wanted a mortal man, something that was not done. Therefore she is being punished."

"Are you being punished for marrying mama?" she asked, concern filling her voice at the thought of her hero-father being punished for anything.

"No. Your mother is the exception as she has power that surpasses that of many mighty youkai. The mortal man the star married had no power or riches to boast of at all, therefore he was not suitable."

She stood there, jaw open and fuming. He mated her for power, did he? Of all the Neanderthal comments he had the audacity to make, this one took the cake. Letting her aura flow from her, she made sure he could feel the anger radiating off it as she approached. It was time to make her presence known.

Her daughter's toothy grin greeted her as she came upon them, and she found she couldn't let Sesshoumaru know her thoughts at that moment. Later, tonight, when they were alone. Instead, she sat on his other side and leaned into him, stealing some of his warmth on the cool night.

"All is done?" he asked.

She nodded, not wanting to say more and spoil the night. There were many things to discuss that would be of interest to him. But they weren't to be spoken in front of a child. "What are we looking at?" she asked innocently, knowing that while she could fool her daughter, she couldn't fool him.

"Orion the hunter," she replied. "Mama, why is he frozen in the sky chasing the sisters? If the gods wanted him to stop, why would they put him there?"

"The gods wanted to punish him for wanting something he was never supposed to have. Instead of separating him from the sisters, they instead froze him nearby. Always on the hunt, always chasing them, but never able to catch them."

She leaned over her mate to tweak her daughter's nose, delighting in the childlike giggle. The woes of the world could be wiped away with that one giggle, a sound filled with nothing but innocence.

The three of them continued to look up and watch the night lights pass by. His arm wrapped around her, her head lay to rest on his shoulder as she struggled to stay awake. Looking over, she could see her daughter snuggled into her father's side, fast asleep, the bedtime tale having done it's job.

"Hey," she nudged him and waited for him to look at her. "Do you really think the seven sisters look like me?"

His eyes narrowed when it dawned on him she was listening the entire time. The minx. But what could he do but be honest with her. "Anything that glorious would have to look like you. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Arrogant dog," she murmured looking back up at the Pleiades.

"Troublesome miko," he murmured back, wrapping his mokomoko-sama around her. "But unlike Orion, I've got you."

"So you do."

END

AN This fic is for ElegantPaws, who had the audacity to put an idea in my head that I couldn't shake away ;). I really thought I had this all wrapped and closed up. Only goes to show you how much I know.

So, this should now bring it full circle.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews, they mean the world to me. elemental573, monkey-101, denise134, Rachelandthecupcakecrusades, llebreknit, SammehIsTehSecks, electric cat demon, KawaiiBitch (there are hundreds of constellations, I don't know the names of them all. I'm actually doing a certificate through the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and it has a bunch of things I need to observe and log, such as constellations (so I know some), planets, moon craters, moon phases and lunar basins, multiple stars and deep sky objects. All I can say is I'm learning), kags-sesshy

ASS: Violetcarson, ElegantPaws, Phoenix Wolf (I'm honoured that you reread my work often. Anytime I try and do that – with my own work – I find about a dozen mistakes and it just makes me want to shut it down before I delete it), Reina, Jean, Wiccan and Al (I don't know why the story won't load for you properly as I've never had an issue with it. Raeko

And a big thanks to everybody on Ebony Silks for your wonderful words, and your votes too!

Disclaimer: See first fic


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